It doesn’t happen daily that you climb three rungs of the corporate ladder within two years. With Shalabh, things were different!
A 1996 Computer Science and Engineering graduate from Shri Ram Murti Smarak College of Engineering and Technology, alumnus Shalabh Garg says that the college provided him with a platform to begin with and finally made him what he is today. “My four year stint at SRMSCET, coupled with strong base developed there, facilitated my move to different roles and profiles in various companies,” he says.
Hard work, dedication and commitment are cornerstones of his success. These qualities, together with a one-year certificate program from IIM Lucknow, helped him move quickly up the corporate ladder and catapult his career at Religare.
Today, as Associate Vice President-Head of Data Centre Services, Religare, a company he has worked with for six years, Shalabh’s responsibilities include overseeing Data Centre operations for the entire Group’s companies. This includes working across multiple domains. The job profile also encompasses applications accessibility for all users across the globe and the management of all corporate portals for the Religare Group. His day therefore is a busy one comprising of meetings, discussions, alignments with business teams and more.
Essentially a small town boy from Bareilly, Shalabh believes that kids who don’t come from the metros have a more focused and concentrated approach to studies. “I believe SRMSCET plays a great role in nurturing the talent of students who join different programs. It was among the best engineering colleges in UP during 1996,” he says explaining that its location is an added advantage.
Concentrating equally on both work and extra-curricular activities during his time at college paid off! Shalabh moved to Primenet after he graduated and then on to Honeywell where he spent almost three years working in the capacity of Project Manager for APAC, before he finally joined Religare. “Moving to Religare was a quick decision as this role provided insights into the financial domain,” he says adding that Religare is a brand name in the NBFC sector and a very dynamic organisation with exponential growth possibilities.
It turned out to be a good decision as Shalabh went from strength to strength – climbing three rungs of the corporate ladder in two years! He credits his promotions to a very competent management team that gave him the opportunity to work on different projects in very short span of time. This he says showcased his capabilities and his potential.
Shalabh’s career journey has seen him traverse from Tier 2 and 3 cities to the metros, so adaptability to various lifestyles and culture are his buzz words. “SRMSCET also played a key role in preparing me for different kinds of environments,” he says. The college’s alumni stand testament to its holistic preparation as well and with many of them in senior positions with reputed organisations like Goldman Sachs, HP, IBM, Intel and so on, Shalabh feels that they should be made an integral part of the institution and play a more active role during the placement process.
In agreement with SRMSCET’s emphasis on long study hours, he says that this philosophy helps students build the patience and diligence of marathon runners. “However, at the same time, I would suggest that students also focus on extra-curricular activities and learn how to interact - because being physically fit together with being able to network can be game changers for any individual!”

Vibhuti Sinha, Vice President, Saviynt, on why building careers in IT is like running a mara-thon; and how CET prepares you for it
The first thing that strikes you about Vibhuti Sinha, Vice President (Cloud Products), Saviynt, is his humility. As an ice-breaker you start with his steep rise up the corporate ladder. He quickly side-steps. You think he’s digging for compliments; so you step on the gas. You speak of his impressive journey from CET, Bareilly to Atlanta in USA; he says its no big deal. You talk to him of being one of the super achievers at CET, Bareilly. He says wait till you meet the other bigwigs.
“They are doing wonders across the globe,” he shrugs with a smile. “I’m nowhere close to what they’ve achieved.
You say, Vice President - Cloud Products… that’s as good as the CEO in some companies. “No way,” says Vibhuti. “That’s CEO Sachin Nayyar and the COO is Amit Saha. On passing out of CET, I’d been working with Infosys for 11 years - 5 of which were in Atlanta - when I met them. They offered me the opportunity to start Cloud Security Solutions and Products unit for Saviynt. There would be learnings and challenges would be immense. But the Industry certainly needed the vision and solutions to fill the gaps in the Cloud Security space. I had no reason to turn back.”
15 minutes into the conversation and you know he’s just built that way. No blowing ones trumpet… not strutting the stuff. Vibhuti is naturally understated; and he’s happy going about his job that way. It’s the way he’s been built and, by his admission, the way he’s been groomed at CET.
“I remember this session on Compiler Design by Prof. Anuj Kumar. In response to a question raised by him, a debate started. I wasn't in agreement with my colleague, but even in the heat of the moment, I replied “I respect your response, but would like to modify your statement.” This went down well with Prof. Anuj Kumar. While others would’ve continued on the subject, Prof. Kumar spent some time on the behavioural aspect of debating. He underscored the importance of being humble and respectful to others opinion, even when they differ or contradict yours. I had not thought of this while responding to my colleague, but thanks to Prof. Kumar, it stayed with me. To this day, I’m respectful and humble to others in conversations or disagreements, and this has helped me tremendously. Thank you Anuj Sir!”
And it seems to be working rather well. Vibhuti’s been in Saviynt for just about a couple of year, and his career chart already looks like a ‘Triple Jump’ - from IAM Solutions Head, to Director - Cloud Solutions, and now VP, Cloud Products.
“Our vision and focus was right on the mark; something absolutely needed by the IT industry. Our solutions, vision and the gaps in the existing Cloud Security models were accepted by Industry thought leaders and research firms like Gartner and Forrester too. Saviynt have been doing very well in the space and I am extremely lucky and thankful to be a part of this great team.”
As a VP of Cloud Products at Saviynt am responsible for strategy, architecture, implementation and roadmap definition of Saviynt’s Cloud line of products. He’s always on some new prototype or the other, when he’s not solving complex implementation issues.
“Having the right mix of business and technology acumen is an integral part of the job description,” says Vibhuti. This hands-on approach proved to be a greater education than a Master’s degree. “The engineering at CET has been a great platform for me. As an institute with its diverse methods of education, grooming and personality development, CET puts you at par, Internationally.”
As the conversation veers towards his days at CET, Vibhuti is a lot more animated.
“What makes CET stand apart are its staff, faculty, Trustees. They were driven by just one motive - to completely overawe people with the idea that a world-class higher educational institute can be setup in Bareilly. CET was as much about overall personality development as it was about Aca-demics. Participating and holding leadership positions in events like ZEST, AAMOD and TechVyom helped me develop my soft skills and emotional quotient. CET prepared me well to survive and fight for the real battles of life post my college days. Ultimately, CET helped me accept the fact that I would fail more and succeed less. It helped me learn how to work in unknowns and unproven areas.”
Considering that it’s been around for just about 20 years, alumni of CET have done exceedingly well, climbing to senior management levels in organization like Goldman Sachs, HP, IBM, Intel, Interglobe, Huawei, TCS. Vibhuti believes that this is only the beginning.
“I absolutely feel elated when I see my friends, colleagues becoming Industry thought leaders, vi-sionaries and drivers for change. This change was not meant to happen in a day and was only possible with the kind of personality development, hard work and nurturing CET provided. I firmly believe there will be much more and better young CET students following the footsteps of their Alumni.”